The whole training grounds turned dead silent as Ara glared at her son. She didn't want to talk about it, 'But he is a persistent one; he will never stop until he knows it!' she mumbled inwardly.
The mother-son duo continued to stare at each other; sparks flew between them as not one of them was willing to back down.
SIGH
Ara sighed in defeat and said, "Okay, you win. But you have to win against me before you can know anything."
William smiled victoriously while nodding his head at his mother. He had confidence that today he was going to win.
"Alright then, let's see what you've got," Ara replied with a small smile on her face. She conjured the same shield as before and took a battle stance.
William, too, lowered his stance and stared at her mother; the air hung still while they both looked at each other as if they were prey.
FWOOSH
William disappeared from the place; using the wind, he dashed toward Ara.
BOOOM
Thunderous boom resounded through the training grounds while the heat soared, and a bright ball of light collided with Ara from behind.
"Heh! Good William, using yourself as a distraction while attacking with a fireball from behind, but its the same as yesterday, it-"
However, before Ara could finish her sentence, William attacked her side with an ice shard, almost piercing her with it.
BANG
SHATTER
Ara conjured a shield in front of the ice shard, shattering it. She then turned toward the place where William was last seen, but he had already vanished.
'From behind!' Ara muttered inwardly while turning around, only to see William's fist hurling down at her stomach.
'Earth'
'Shield'
Both muttered at the same time.
BANG
CRACK
The collision produced shockwaves as William nearly broke the shield of Ara.
'Wind!'
He didn't stay in the same place; after punching the shield, William immediately jumped back, using wind.
'Wind Slash!'
He muttered inwardly while a meter-long, crescent-shaped wind blade formed above him. William swayed his hands, sending the wind blade toward his mother.
All this while Ara was smiling as she could see that her son is growing well. She noticed the wind blade hurling down at her and reinforced the shield.
BANG
BOOM
The collision made the dust fly everywhere, masking William's location.
He smiled a little and dashed to a corner of the training ground.
'Earth!'
Using earth he swung his hands upward, making the ground beneath Ara tremble as two pillars of earth soared high into the sky, making Ara jump backward.
But she immediately regretted it when an ice shard almost on top of her.
BANG
Ara's shield quickly moved and stopped the ice shard from falling on her.
She landed on her feet and turned toward the place William was in. The dust in the air didn't affect her sight in the slightest.
'He is growing up really well.' Her heart swelled up in pride while looking at her son's improvement, which was a lot compared to yesterday.
William looked at her mother and mumbled, 'Time for phase two'
He swung open his hands,
'Heat'
'Ice'
Conjuring fire mana and ice mana into his right and left hands he swung his hands in, slamming the two mana against each other.
BAM
The result of the act was steam, lots of it.
'Wind'
Using wind, he collected all of the steam and morphed into a ball of hot steam that glowed red.
'Heat'
The steam glowed brighter and brighter as William added fire mana to it, he then used harmony and made it more compact, lessening the firction between molecules.
BOOM
BOOM
The ball of red-hot steam shrunk as it boomed.
"Haah Haahh!" William panted as he looked at his mother, who was staring at him with pride; he was actually surprised as he thought she would attack midway and was hoping for it.
TSK
He clicked his tongue in annoyance as his plan failed, 'Well, it isn't the only plan i have got!'
He raised his hand, which was holding the ball of steam.
"Hahh!"
And threw the glowing ball of steam toward Ara and disappeared from his spot.
WHOOSH
The ball of steam burned the air; its heat melted the soft sand in the training grounds as it rushed toward her.
Ara didn't panic; instead, she raised an eyebrow at her son's attack while nodding in satisfaction. "Good!" she praised and swung her hand.
'Luminous Magic Arts: Iliad'
A magnificent shield materialized in front of Ara; it was a rectangular shield that was almost her height. It had a man with a warrior's body holding a shield that depicted the entire world engraved on it.
Ara smiled as she watched the ball of steam collide with her shield.
BOOOOOOM
The entire training ground trembled in fright as the ball of steam exploded, releasing all the intense heat outward.
WHOOSH
Intense waves of steam traveled across the training grounds, cooking alive the many insects that made the walls their home.
The soft sand on the training grounds melted as it turned into small shards of glass while glowing red hot.
'Earth'
'Eternal Frost!'
William, who was standing on top of a wall, mumbled inwardly as "cold" began to spread from him. He disappeared from his previous spot using wind, as he knew that his attack would be powerful. His core went into overdrive as it added the intent of cold to his mana, turning it into ice mana.
FWOOSH
Just like the waves of steam, William sent in waves of frost, subduing the intense heat. 'Start of phase three!' William muttered inwardly.
'Wind!'
Using Wind, he jumped toward Ara's shield, planning to break it.
'Earth'
Sending earth mana into his hands, making them rock hard, he punched the shield at its center.
BOOM
He then swiftly jumped sideways and punched again.
BOOM
Ara frowned as she observed William's movements. 'What is he planning?' she muttered inwardly as she moved her shield around.
BANG
CRACK
Another punch landed on the shield, slightly cracking it.
'Now!' William exclaimed inwardly.
'Earth!'
Using earth, he swung his hands upward, making a pillar of earth rise beneath Ara.
WHOOSH
The frown on Ara's face deepened as she jumped backward, 'What is he planning?' She questioned again as she moved the shield to her back, blocking the ice shard coming from below.
THUD
She landed on her feet with a soft thud and looked at her son, who was now running around the battle field.
'Cold'
William conjured ice mana into his hands and swung them at Ara's feet, planning to freeze her in place.
FWOOSH
But she replied by blocking the attack with her shield. 'I am confident; he is definitely planning something.' she mumbled inwardly.
She knew that all the attacks from the steam ball were just for show and didn't hold any power like the ones from the beginning.
Her eyes darted toward William, who now stopped in his tracks and stared back at her with a small but annoying smile.
Ara stared back at her son for a moment before she understood what happened, "Clever." She praised as she turned around.
Hundreds of tiny ice shards, which are a foot in length, looked down at Ara, aiming their sharp heads at her.
Ara glared back at the ice shards with a small, prideful smile on her face. She knew it from this: "My son has grown a lot!" she said while turning toward him.
William's chest rose in happiness as he heard his mother's praise. While running around, he conjured foot-long ice shards and threw fake attacks at her.
He clenched his hands in excitement while a small, mysterious smile adorned his face.
"But," Ara said, grabbing his attention, "do you think they could touch me?" she said with a confident smile on her face.
'Luminous Magic Arts: Iliad - Multiply!'
WHOOSH
WHOOSH
WHOOSH
The shield of Ara multiplied itself, surrounding her from all sides. "Now what will you do, my little William?"
William gritted his teeth while he glared at his mother. He raised his clenched hand and swung it down, sending all the ice shards at her.
FWOOSH
FWOOSH
FWOOSH
All the ice shards hurled down at the shields at once, reflecting the sunlight that was falling on them.
BOOM
BOOM
BOOM
Ara stood still as the ice shard collided with the shields; she was a little surprised by the speed of the ice shards. 'Well, I guess my son's attacks can't be normal!' she said to herself as she gloated about her son's performance all while moving the shields a little, covering the gaps and blocking the shards.
BOOM
BOOM
BOOM
William's attack continued to rain down on Ara's shields. 'Hmm, although his last attack was really well thought out, he has to improve more!' Ara mumbled to herself and decided to ask her sister Carina to teach William how to form more strategies.
"Hmm?" Ara hummed as she noticed that William had stopped his attack.
"Oh!" she exclaimed in surprise as she looked at William. "It looks like you have to try another day, son!" she said while also sighing inwardly in relief; she didn't know what she would have done if he had won.
'I am not ready to tell him yet!' she exclaimed inwardly.
William observed Ara intently all while clenching his fists tightly; he only released them when he saw what he wanted.
"Hahh!"
He sighed in exasperation, 'This has been a tough battle!'
"Haha!"
"Hahahaha!" William then began to laugh madly as he looked at the sky; he had done it.
"Hmm?" Ara hummed while she frowned as she saw her son acting like a madman. 'Why is he—'
She wanted to know why he was laughing and wanted to ask him, but she stopped.
DRIP
A small drop of blood dripped down her cheek. Ara immediately brushed her cheek with her hand and looked at it with wide eyes when she saw blood—her blood.
"H-How!?"